Iran
and The Future of Freedom

We are engaged in a battle not
to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction, but rather to ensure
the victory of democracy and freedom on a planet that lingers on the
verge of instability, tyranny, and the death of virtues for which
millions have suffered, died, and struggled for throughout human
history. The stakes are high, and to allow continued mistakes will
result in an intolerable conclusion that we must prevent now.

Claims we have heard in recent
years that insist we are fighting a war to rid the world of WMDs have
misled many. It is true that the WMD argument has served as sort of a
trigger mechanism in a chain of events that many, hope will lead to the
establishment of democracy and freedom in the
Middle East
. However, this trigger, combined with a series of mistakes on the part
of the Bush Administration, are leading America further from success and
much closer to failure.

In recent months and years,
political activists and certain administration officials, senators and
congressional figures have urged the US Government to address the real
terror masters in
Iran
, but for a number of reasons, many of which are hidden, this has not
happened.

Intelligence sources have been
warning us for months of the increased Islamic Republic's presence in
Iraq
via its' clerical and intelligence proxies. History has continuously
warned us that the regime in
Iran
is the most dangerous and repressive regime in the World, the life of
which depends on its modus operandi of international terrorism and the
auctioning off of the Iranian people's resources to
England
,
France
,
Germany
,
Russia
,
China
and several other nations in exchange for securing the mullahcracy's
longevity.

For decades the Iranian people
have been fighting the clerical regime in
Iran
and have been offered little if any support from the outside world. What
is really going on?

Arriving at the answers and
solutions to the many questions and problems surrounding the current
fiasco in the
Middle East
requires a more comprehensive analysis than a simple discussion of WMDs
and their existence, and also requires that every American and citizen
of the world take a closer look at what is really unfolding in the
Middle East
, and the power politics being played.

An important principle outlined
in the famous "Bush Doctrine" is the declaration that the
United States
supports freedom, democracy and human rights throughout the world. This
is undoubtedly one of the most noble and perhaps most important
principles of the doctrine because it calls for the
United States
to use a variety of means not only to protect societies that are already
free and democratic, but also to act in response to environments
characterized by populations that are not free, where the people are
overwhelmingly silenced and repressed by terror-supporting
dictatorships.

Those who view these principles
as unworkable or even selfish, and declare that "Democracy and
freedom will never work in certain countries or societies..." or
state that "The United States doesn't have the right to impose
democracy on others.." are in fact the selfish irresponsible ones
who, by advocating a return to the status quo through inaction,
indirectly set into motion a series of events which are more likely to
lead to increased repression and slavery of even greater populations
throughout our world. Freedom must prevail and its crucifixion must be
prevented before our endeavor truly becomes futile.

If one taps the pulse of
America
today, one is no doubt likely to detect a number of sentiments. There
are some Americans who from the beginning were opposed to this endeavor.
There are those who wonder why we are still in
Iraq
, considering the fact that the war's trigger (i.e., WMD, Saddam
Hussein) have been defused. The most interesting sentiment is that which
is exhibited by countless Americans, many of whom comprise a significant
portion of George Bush's base. They are individuals who supported the
war not merely for WMD argument, but because they maintain an idealistic
vision and hope for the future, a future in which American action
ultimately leads to freedom in the
Middle East
. Freedom in the
Middle East
would in turn result in a more stable and peaceful world, an increase in
global cooperation, and a stronger world economy. Unfortunately the
United States
is now fighting a war on many fronts within
Iraq
and has yet to connect all the dots, a crucial link that must be
addressed if freedom is to prevail.

There is no question that
Islamic fanatics and their ideology of hate and terror must be
eliminated, but we cannot succeed merely by assaulting this
"fanatical virus" with M-16s and military might, because there
will always be a near endless supply of targets. The only way to destroy
this virus emanating from hotbeds such as the Mullah's palaces in
Iran
, mountainous abodes that house fanatics in
Pakistan
and
Afghanistan
, and other repositories of hate throughout the world is to counter and
destroy the ideology they profess with an ideology that is far superior
to theirs. Our only hope is to establish a system built upon an ideology
of freedom, democracy and human rights, which will work to seek out and
destroy the fanatics and their barbaric ideologies.

Perhaps the accepted view of
certain American administration officials was that this superior
ideology would quickly take hold in
Iraq
, but it is clear that in the short to mid-term it won’t. In fact it
is futile to rely solely on the effective deployment of this ideological
weapon in Iraq, because there are a number of players throughout the
World and the region who in the short and in some cases the long-term
have nothing to gain by the defeat of Islamic fanaticism and the
establishment of democracy in the Middle East.

There are those obvious culprits
whose rule will certainly be ended by such regional progress, like
Khamenei and his gang of Mullahs in
Iran
, Bashar Assad in
Syria
, The House of Saud, and tribal entities in
Afghanistan
, but then there are also "others".

England
, several European nations,
Russia
, and
China
are deeply worried that the Mullahs will be overthrown by the Iranian
people, not only because the Mullahs literally give away and auction off
the Iranian people's resources in an effort to secure and sustain their
evil regime, but more importantly because of the long-term implications
that such a progressive overhaul would have in regards to American power
and the advancement of freedom. These forces, which are all attempting
to halt progress in the region, are using

Iraq
as a battleground. And so we must battle in
Iraq
while simultaneously looking elsewhere for freedom's breeding ground.

Imagine for a moment that a
revolution is sparked in
Iran
, resulting in minimal bloodshed and the removal of the Mullahs' regime,
one which has brought nothing but terror to the Iranian people and has
left countless victims in their terrorist wake throughout the world.
Then imagine the chain reaction which likely follows. Tens of thousands
of Iranian political prisoners, most of whom are college-aged, and
countless intellectuals and dissident politicians are released from the
clerical regime's prisons and torture chambers. Iranians rush to
establish a system that is the complete opposite of that which the
mullahs had enforced for over two decades. Liberal clerics return to the
mosques and the more hardliner fanatical ones go into hiding, are
imprisoned, or are killed by angry Iranians who have suffered greatly at
their evil hands. Consequently, the Iranian people reverse a quarter of
a century of repression and backwardness, and breathe life into a new
system built upon the principles of freedom, democracy and human rights.

In the weeks that follow, the
forces of freedom in the Middle East gain overwhelming leverage over
those fanatical forces which struggle to survive after having received
such a powerful blow to their masters, who once ruled in
Iran
, and the billions of dollars in wealth that was once funneled into
terrorism and maintenance of the Islamic Clerical Regime is now invested
by the Iranian people and for the people. Populations throughout the
region recognize that they too can be free and they need not continue
living their lives at the whim of tyrants. Regimes from
Syria
to
Saudi Arabia
are pressured to reform or are overthrown by pro-democratic forces.
Repressed peoples in the
Middle East
and throughout the world witness the successful establishment of this
far superior ideology based on freedom and respect for the rights of all
human beings, and now demand a future much different than that which was
prescribed by their dictators in the past.

The future government of a free
Iran
will be highly critical and wary of alliances and business cooperation
with
England
, much of Europe,
Russia
and
China
as a direct result of the ever-increasing Iranian anger and distrust of
those nations that have dealt with the Mullahs over the past 20 years.
The mullahs' trading partners have focused entirely on exploiting the
nation of
Iran
, instead of recognizing the struggle of the Iranian people, the hell
the clerical regime has created, and demanding the regime change it's
ways. These trading partners of the Islamic Republic are in major part
responsible for the actions of the Mullahs, which include but are not
limited to, assassinations throughout the Middle East, Europe and the
United States
, the murder of more than 100,000 Iranians and the imprisonment of
countless others, and presently, the thousands of Islamic regime agents
who swarm like bees through the sands of
Iraq
, ambushing American convoys and instigating actions they hope will give
birth to an Islamic Republic proxy in
Iraq
. So as Americans and citizens of the world we must ask ourselves “Who
are the real allies of humanity in our endeavor for freedom?” The
answer is quite sobering, and to some it may even be a bit shocking, but
as human beings who exist now, in this moment and no other, we must
accept the truth. Our duty cannot and must not be to the self-serving
nature of our primitive selves, but rather we must act now, for those
who have already passed while enduring in this struggle and for those
who are now chained in silent bondage. The question is not whether there
were weapons of mass destruction, but rather, do you support freedom for
all mankind or not. This is a question that all the world leaders must
answer, for no government is exempt from answering to truth and to duty.

If the Bush administration
continues to treat
Iraq
as though the dynamics at play within that country occur only in a
vacuum rather than actively addressing and treating the external factors
involved, this noble endeavor is bound to fail and there will be no
second chance. However, if the Bush administration accepts the fact that
the current tumultuous state of Iraq is inadequate for deploying the
anti-fanatical ideology of freedom and democracy, and immediately looks
toward freedom's breeding ground in Iran, and entrusts the Iranian
people with its care, we may never have to see the day when we will all
lay helpless at the knees of a planet’s absent of freedom.

As for those nations that remain
steadfast trading partners of the regime in
Iran
, you still have an opportunity to undo much that has been done. By
openly working together with the
United States
in an effort to remove the clerics who rule
Iran
and subsequently aiding the spread of freedom throughout the
Middle East
and the world, all nations and people of the world will certainly
benefit. The handful of dictators and fanatical-minded tyrants will be
the only ones who lose. So not as Americans, but as human beings, we ask
that the governments of all countries who currently have relations with
the terrorist regime in Iran actively work with the United States to
facilitate the transfer of power from the Mullahs in Iran to the Iranian
people, or accept the consequence that their government be held
accountable and complicit in whatever travesty lay ahead.

In the words of the great 13th
century Persian poet, Saadi Shirazi,

"Human beings are all
members of one body.

They are created from the same
essence.

When one member is in pain,

The others cannot rest.

If you do not care about the
pain of others,

You do not deserve to be called
a human being."

In the words of the great
American, Thomas Jefferson, "We hold these truths to be
self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Dariush Shirazi is a
pseudonym of an Iranian-American university student and Los
Angeles-based freelance journalist and can be reached at